How Much Should We Pay A Maid

[janverbeem]

My GF used to work for Sizzler as a cook, and she only got 8,000 ( one day off a week ), so why do people think a live in maid should get 12,000?

as you have included my quote in your response, i will correct you and say that:

my housekeeper gets 11,000 a month and does not live in

my house is the size of 3 estate type houses, has a big family in occupation and takes a lot of work to maintain.

she also does all the laundry and ironing which would cost 2000/3000/4000 a month if done outside

hence the wage structure

if just my wife and i lived in a 2 bed 2 bath townhouse, i might think 5000 a month would be ok........

The outside laundry and ironing is of course more expensive as they have to pay for rent,labour and equipment and then still like to make a monthly profit.You have paid all these costs already so why compare it.

If you lived in a smaller house,why would the maid cost be lower.You pay for the time she actually works not per square meter do you?Or do you think she does more work each hour because she feels she has a responsibility to get the work finished on time?That would be the first Thai ever I met in my life.

[timekeeper]

My GF used to work for Sizzler as a cook, and she only got 8,000 ( one day off a week ), so why do people think a live in maid should get 12,000?

as you have included my quote in your response, i will correct you and say that:

my housekeeper gets 11,000 a month and does not live in

my house is the size of 3 estate type houses, has a big family in occupation and takes a lot of work to maintain.

she also does all the laundry and ironing which would cost 2000/3000/4000 a month if done outside

hence the wage structure

if just my wife and i lived in a 2 bed 2 bath townhouse, i might think 5000 a month would be ok........

The outside laundry and ironing is of course more expensive as they have to pay for rent,labour and equipment and then still like to make a monthly profit.You have paid all these costs already so why compare it.

If you lived in a smaller house,why would the maid cost be lower.You pay for the time she actually works not per square meter do you?Or do you think she does more work each hour because she feels she has a responsibility to get the work finished on time?That would be the first Thai ever I met in my life.

if i did not have a housekeeper to do the job, i would have to pay to have laundry done outside the home as i would not do it myself and the wife has no time

hence i factor its cost calculation into the beneits of having a housekeeper or not

in my view if there is less house to clean, then it should be less cost

if you don't think so and want to dispute it, then simply telephone one of the cleaning firms and get a quote for cleaning a big and a small house

as i own both sizes of house, and have done exactly that, i can tell you without fear of contradiction that one is more expensive than the other.....

[janverbeem]

My GF used to work for Sizzler as a cook, and she only got 8,000 ( one day off a week ), so why do people think a live in maid should get 12,000?

as you have included my quote in your response, i will correct you and say that:

my housekeeper gets 11,000 a month and does not live in

my house is the size of 3 estate type houses, has a big family in occupation and takes a lot of work to maintain.

she also does all the laundry and ironing which would cost 2000/3000/4000 a month if done outside

hence the wage structure

if just my wife and i lived in a 2 bed 2 bath townhouse, i might think 5000 a month would be ok........

The outside laundry and ironing is of course more expensive as they have to pay for rent,labour and equipment and then still like to make a monthly profit.You have paid all these costs already so why compare it.

If you lived in a smaller house,why would the maid cost be lower.You pay for the time she actually works not per square meter do you?Or do you think she does more work each hour because she feels she has a responsibility to get the work finished on time?That would be the first Thai ever I met in my life.

if i did not have a housekeeper to do the job, i would have to pay to have laundry done outside the home as i would not do it myself and the wife has no time

hence i factor its cost calculation into the beneits of having a housekeeper or not

in my view if there is less house to clean, then it should be less cost

if you don't think so and want to dispute it, then simply telephone one of the cleaning firms and get a quote for cleaning a big and a small house

as i own both sizes of house, and have done exactly that, i can tell you without fear of contradiction that one is more expensive than the other.....

For sure the quotes will be different as the company will need more manhours to clean a big house than a small,so they either will come with more people or work more hours.

Your housekeeper is paid for a certain amount of time worked.In a small house there are 24 hours in a day,as there are also in a big house.

[timekeeper]

My GF used to work for Sizzler as a cook, and she only got 8,000 ( one day off a week ), so why do people think a live in maid should get 12,000?

as you have included my quote in your response, i will correct you and say that:

my housekeeper gets 11,000 a month and does not live in

my house is the size of 3 estate type houses, has a big family in occupation and takes a lot of work to maintain.

she also does all the laundry and ironing which would cost 2000/3000/4000 a month if done outside

hence the wage structure

if just my wife and i lived in a 2 bed 2 bath townhouse, i might think 5000 a month would be ok........

The outside laundry and ironing is of course more expensive as they have to pay for rent,labour and equipment and then still like to make a monthly profit.You have paid all these costs already so why compare it.

If you lived in a smaller house,why would the maid cost be lower.You pay for the time she actually works not per square meter do you?Or do you think she does more work each hour because she feels she has a responsibility to get the work finished on time?That would be the first Thai ever I met in my life.

if i did not have a housekeeper to do the job, i would have to pay to have laundry done outside the home as i would not do it myself and the wife has no time

hence i factor its cost calculation into the beneits of having a housekeeper or not

in my view if there is less house to clean, then it should be less cost

if you don't think so and want to dispute it, then simply telephone one of the cleaning firms and get a quote for cleaning a big and a small house

as i own both sizes of house, and have done exactly that, i can tell you without fear of contradiction that one is more expensive than the other.....

For sure the quotes will be different as the company will need more manhours to clean a big house than a small,so they either will come with more people or work more hours.

Your housekeeper is paid for a certain amount of time worked.In a small house there are 24 hours in a day,as there are also in a big house.

i don't pay my housekeeper on an hourly/daily/rate

i pay for the job to be done, however long it takes, wether that is more or less hours than the working hours we have loosely agreed upon

she knows the workload varies, if the girls aren't at school, theres less laundry and ironing

if we have a party theres more work than usual to be done after its taken place

if we are away on holiday, theres much less work to do

she knows that there are highs and lows in the task

she leaves earlier than the time agreed as many times as she leaves late, so it balances out over a month

however, the pay rate stays the same wether she goes home early or late

the pay rate stays the same wether she works hard or not

sometimes the work is easy, sometimes its harder

she is flexible to our families needs, as i am i to hers

if i ask her to do any task outside the arena of her normal jobs, then i pay her extra for doing it, if she's agreeable

she understands the variations that can occur in the job on a daily basis, as do i

so why can't you?

do you even have a maid/housekeeper?

in fact, have you ever even employed anyone in any capacity?

because it sure does not sound like it................

[janverbeem]

do you even have a maid/housekeeper?

in fact, have you ever even employed anyone in any capacity?

because it sure does not sound like it................

Yes I have,in fact I employed quiet a few people before I came to live in Thailand.

Also as I live here for 17 years already I have employed quiet a few housemaids already and what I learned from that is that they are not worth to be spoiled.If you give them your finger they will take your hand and a bit later demand your arm but their work standards will not improve simultaneously.

Of course there are exeptions, but with my 17 year experience in Thailand I can say they are far and few between.It also astounds me when I see people in the bars who throw 100.000 baht or more a month at their " Girlfriend " and think that's the way it should be and that she loves him,but hey everybody their lifestyle isn't it.

[timekeeper]

do you even have a maid/housekeeper?

in fact, have you ever even employed anyone in any capacity?

because it sure does not sound like it................

Yes I have,in fact I employed quiet a few people before I came to live in Thailand.

Also as I live here for 17 years already I have employed quiet a few housemaids already and what I learned from that is that they are not worth to be spoiled.If you give them your finger they will take your hand and a bit later demand your arm but their work standards will not improve simultaneously.

Of course there are exeptions, but with my 17 year experience in Thailand I can say they are far and few between.It also astounds me when I see people in the bars who throw 100.000 baht or more a month at their " Girlfriend " and think that's the way it should be and that she loves him,but hey everybody their lifestyle isn't it.

so 17 years here has made you jaded, i understand now why this thread inflames you

you appear to have been gullible enough to get ripped off by Thais, probably on many occasions

hence your attitude/advise to others who have not had a problem is based on your own bitter experiences not on reality

personally i would say that all Thais aren't the same and you must have chosen poorly to have had such awful results from your interactions with them and finshed up feeling so fatigued with them as a race

i would say that overall my experience with Thais has been positive but then i am very careful who i deal with

i have a personal policy not to give money to people i don't like (of any race or creed)

it works well for me, maybe you should adopt it but perhaps you would never spend any money again in Thailand!

i would like to say that all farangs in Thailand are not the same but its been my experience that the attitude of those who have been here a long time is surprisingly similar

i myself have been here 10 years and i although i do share some of the sterotypical long term expat observations as you, i am not as weary with them as you obviously are

i still trust people initially if i like them but with me, trust is like virginity, you only get it once...........

[metisdead]

A series of posts not offering any valid contributions to the topic have been removed.

[Darrel]

Just saw a sequence on Australian TV where they interviewed an Udon Thani woman working in a factory in BKK.

She is paid 5000B/month, she pays 1000B rent and sends 3000B back to Udon.

I suspect that she would rather be a maid for 5000B all found.

[Jayroo]

my housekeeper works 9-6 mon-sat, sundays off

she does not live in

she has been with me 8 years and started at 5000 a month

i pay her 10,000 a month now

i give here an additional 1000 a month for fuel allowance as i moved out of the city and live out at Mabprachan now

i pay her for national holidays, songkran etc and two additional paid weeks off per year

she does all the laundry, ironing etc

she knows what i expect from her

i don't need to chase her around telling her what to do

she is like a family member know

i do not know how we would manage without her............

You make her work during Songkran? that's slack!!

[Naam]

Just saw a sequence on Australian TV where they interviewed an Udon Thani woman working in a factory in BKK.

She is paid 5000B/month, she pays 1000B rent and sends 3000B back to Udon.

I suspect that she would rather be a maid for 5000B all found.

it was mentioned several times that there are maids and there are maids.

-can the lady who works in a factory cook a variety of western and asian food?

-can she lay a table the correct way with crockery, cutlery and glasses?

-is she able to serve guests food and drinks?

-does she know the difference between the cleanliless of her hut in a remote village and the one demanded?

-does she speak passable english?

-is it fair to assume that she washes her hands after poking her nose before she makes a sandwich?

-can one travel abroad for one month and leave a home stuffed with valuables in her care?

the list is near endless. our housekeeper is with us since more than six years. a bright and intelligent lady. it took at least three years till she was able to do her job to our utmost satisfactory. when she got married she convinced her husband to leave his white collar job and start working for us as a gardener. she trained him to do all kind of inside chores and i trained him to carry out simple handyman work. everything is running smoothly again after a several months long drama when her sister worked as her replacement because she had a baby.

and yes, we are (according to a german saying) blowing powdered sugar up their àrses, built for them a neat little airconditioned house next to ours, pay them top salaries, free food, free medical, free this, free that. unlike the domestic staff we employed in other countries we treat them nearly like family and i am looking forward till the little bugger, who is still in his crib, is a toddler and accompanies my dogs to my study where all three of them will beg for treats.

[SiamRose]

This brings up a more important question than price. Can they be trusted? What's to prevent them cleaning out (clearing out) the house when you're away.

Yes, that is a good point. If you pay a very low cash wage, your maid may well find other ways of increasing her income at your expense. Paying very low salaries is usually a false economy in my experience.